Atrius Health

Atrius Health formed in 2004, is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, and is the largest independent physician-led healthcare organization in the Northeast.^[1] Atrius Health delivers a system of connected care for more than 740,000 adult and pediatric patients in eastern and central Massachusetts.^[2] Atrius Health’s 36 medical practices, with more than 50 specialties and 900 physicians, work together with the home health and hospice services of its VNA Care subsidiary and in close collaboration with hospital partners, community specialists and skilled nursing facilities.^[3]

The Atrius Health groups have a long history of operating as a model for accountable care organizations^[4] (ACO), with full responsibility for the quality and cost of care for many of their patients since before the term was coined by Elliott Fisher, MD, MPH, in 2006.^[5] In 2009, Atrius Health became one of the first organizations to sign on to the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Alternative Quality Contract (AQC), viewed by many as one of the first models of an accountable care organization.^[6]

Atrius Health is also a participant in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service’s Pioneer ACO program. In 2015, Atrius Health’s Pioneer ACO’s quality scores were the highest among Pioneer ACO’s in Massachusetts and the third highest among Pioneer ACOs nationally.^[7] The ACO model enables Atrius Health to employ effective population health management to pro-actively care for groups of patients with similar conditions over the long term and across the care continuum.^[8]

Almost all of the Atrius Health primary care practices have received the highest possible national accreditation as Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Homes from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).^[9]

Atrius Health has also earned Stage 7 recognition from HIMSS Analytics, the highest level possible nationally for the use of health information technology.^[10] This sophistication of technology includes a web portal that allows clinicians within Atrius Health and partnering organizations to have easy one-click, read-only access to a patient’s electronic medical record at many hospitals in the area. Patients of Atrius Health can access a secure patient portal to allow access to medical records and communicate securely with doctors online.^[11]

Leadership

Steven Strongwater, MD President and CEO, Atrius Health

Steven Strongwater, MD, president and CEO

Steven Strongwater, MD became president and CEO of Atrius Health in August 2015.^[12] He is responsible for all aspects of leading this non-profit accountable care organization of 6,800 employees serving 740,000 patients across eastern Massachusetts with coordinated medical care, home health and hospice. From September 2012 to July 2015, Strongwater served as Geisinger Health System’s chief transformation officer.^[13] Prior to this, Strongwater served as CEO of Stony Brook University Medical Center where he built advanced clinical programs and implemented major capital and information technology operations.^[13]

Strongwater recently completed a term as the chair of the American Hospital Association’s Committee on Health Professions as well as an Advisor to the Association of American Medical Colleges for the CMS Bundling Project.^[13]

Joe Kimura, MD, chief medical officer, Atrius Health

Atrius Health medical practices

Founding medical groups Dedham Medical Associates, Granite Medical Group and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates merged with Atrius Health to form one organization in 2015, with VNA Care as an integrated home health and hospice subsidiary.^[16]

• Dedham Medical Associates
• Granite Medical Group
• Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
• VNA Care Network & Hospice
• PMG Physician Associates

Hospital affiliations

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Milton
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Needham
Beverly Hospital

Boston Children's Hospital
Emerson Hospital
Brigham and Women's Hospital/Faulkner Hospital
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center
Lowell General Hospital

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Mount Auburn Hospital
New England Baptist Hospital
Newton-Wellesley Hospital
South Shore Hospital
Winchester Hospital

Timeline

• 2004: Dedham Medical Associates, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Southboro Medical Group and South Shore Medical Center formed HealthOne Care System
• 2005: Granite Medical Group joined HealthOne Care System
• 2007: HealthOne Care System changed its name to Atrius Health
• 2007: Hired Ed Noffsinger,^[17] the "Father of Shared Medical Appointments" to launch a program of Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs^[18]) as a way for patients to have better access to their physicians and other providers and to learn from other patients during a 90-minute group visit^[19]
• 2009: Began working with Simpler Consulting^[20] to improve care deliveries through Lean transformation.^[21]
• 2009: Signed a five-year Alternative Quality Contract^[22] (AQC) with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to improve the quality of care and cut medical costs^[23]
• 2009: Created the Atrius Health Foundation to support innovative solutions to improve healthcare and help in emergency situations like the 2010 earthquake near Port-au-Prince, Haiti
• 2011: Reliant Medical Group (formerly Fallon Clinic) joined Atrius Health^[24]
• 2013: VNA Care Network & Hospice joined Atrius Health; VNA of Boston merged into VNA Care Network & Hospice^[25]
• 2015: Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Dedham Medical Associates, and Granite Medical Group merge into one corporation with VNA Care Network Foundation as an integrated subsidiary^[26]
• 2015: Atrius Health invests $10 million into an Innovation Center aimed at developing and improving patient-centered care delivery models to improve care quality and efficiency in interacting with patients^[27]
• 2015: Steven Strongwater joins Atrius Health as president & chief executive officer^[28]

References